


In the Heat, A New Understanding

by DipsInDemacianDots



Category: League of Legends
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-20 09:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10659327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DipsInDemacianDots/pseuds/DipsInDemacianDots
Summary: Garen and Darius are up to their usual mutual hatred of each other in the Rift. What occurs though, changes them and thus changes the game itself for them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. This is my first time writing on this archive. I just felt so moved by every person who wrote a story about Garen and Darius when a few months ago I hadn't even thought of them that way(Very special thanks to Noxian Taco and ProdigalEzplorer (Asguardian)). Because there didn't seem to be any more works coming soon, I decided to try writing in general for the first time in years. I hope it's worthy of at least making your hearts flutter from Garen and Darius. Let me know if you find any major errors as I tried to proofread, or if you have any suggestions or comments.

Chapter 1

Garen entered the rift feeling elated. Darius was obviously going to top against him and he couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to beat Darius over and over again. As he ran to the bushes of top lane to scout, he wondered in what way he would try to kill Darius first. Would he leap into the air to bring a devastating blow? Would he try to outlast him with a battle of will? No, he would spin to win.  
When he reached the bush, suddenly a huge axe came out and hacked him, wiping a bloodied trail across his chest. Darius came into view, smirking as he managed to get a blow in before Garen. "That's it", Garen thought, "I going to show him how to really spin a weapon." He leveled his E first, and waited till the first wave clash. When Darius tried to do anything, Garen just spun, knowing he was being obnoxious and subconsciously knowing he was doing it only for Darius. Darius only grinned and with the next level decided to turn annoyance up a notch. He pulled Garen in, playfully making a kissing face just inches from Garen face, then began bracing himself to spin his axe. Garen thought last second, "If Darius wants a kiss", thinking a little devilishly, "I'll give him one". Instead of running away like Darius expected, Garen dropped his sword and grabbed Darius by the shoulders to full on kiss him on the lips.

Darius didn't know what to do or think. He knew the rivalry between him and Garen was heated and they both stopped at nothing to show each other up, but this.... He just didn't ever expect it. Darius stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to snap himself out of stillness and how to stop his dam heartbeat because it would feel better than this fluttering drum probably audible to the whole rift. Finally, he managed to push Garen with the butt of his axe, not sure who looked more red, Garen from embarrassment or Darius from anger....and blushing. This feeling wasn't supposed to be happening and yet Darius couldn't help seeing his hatred for Garen in a new way. He always looked at his perseverance as a annoying trait, but now he saw it as the way they could play with each other. Without Garen being willing to fight back every time Darius did something purposefully, it ruined the fun. He wanted Garen to be there, giving it all he had for a silly rivalry, but maybe now he wanted more. Something more than simple tricks and witty comebacks. Perhaps Darius wanted to actually care about Garen past is he dead or not. Darius ran to the tower, forgetting about the minions.

Garen watched Darius's range of emotions kick in this entire time. To be honest, the kiss actually felt good. He expect to taste only blood and bitter alcohol, but his lips tasted sweet like chocolate and the soft texture made him stay the extra seconds past the joke. He became less forceful and melted more into the kiss as time went on. When Darius pushed him away, Garen almost whimpered but stopped himself realizing where he was again. Garen stared wonderingly at Darius, ignoring the dying minions, gold and victory becoming secondary issues. There was a spark here and Garen was not about to just ignore it. He left his sword on the ground and ran after Darius.

"God dam him! God dam him!", Darius swore to himself as he paced the tower. He looked up and saw Garen a couple feet away unarmed, with a look of concern, and worst of all, affection.  
"I do not need this right now Garen!", Darius shouted. "Why did you do this to me!"  
Garen kept staring, giving nothing else but a blank face now. I hated that I wanted him to come under the tower both so I could hug and kiss him, and see him die so I don't have to look at him at least for a minute.  
Garen was visibly agitated when he asked, "What do you mean? Why did that kiss affect you so much?"  
Just tell him, a little part Darius thought, but he just grimaced and sighed. It would be so much easier to just kill him. Wait a minute....  
Darius stuck out his axe, and drew Garen into the tower range. He couldn't do his full combo right now, but he felt the need to bring out every bit of rage seething in him by bringing blood out of Garen, drop by drop. Garen simply stood there staring at him, with fright but also with what seemed like sad disappointment. All of Darius's rage and pride buckled under that gaze. He couldn't finish it. But the tower would. As the proclamation of first blood rung out, something Darius used to relish, he felt more empty inside then ever at how he just treated Garen. He only had pain left where he should have felt pride of a kill.  
He wanted Garen back here more than anything else. God, what is happening to me! I thought Garen and I just got on each others nerves for...what did we do it for? Ugh, I need to talk to Draven about this.  
Darius leveled up to 3, recalled then ran down to bottom lane.  



	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Draven and Morgana were laning against Ezreal and Taric and unfortunately not doing well. Draven looked back as Darius approached, only managed a nod then had to remain focused as not to get hit with Taric's stuns while catching axes. It's a miracle he doesn't get cut by those things Darius wondered.  
Darius knew he would have to at least force Ezreal and/or Taric to recall in order to talk with his brother. This matter could not wait until after the match.  
Morgana landed a binding on Ezreal, perfect opportunity for Darius to come from the side and pull him in ready to use all he had on him. A couple axes from Draven, combined with tormented soil, and we got Ezreal down to 100 with Taric's heals and shields going like crazy. Now with only Taric left, I could comfortably talk with Draven while he farmed.  
Draven said, "Nice job getting first blood up there. You're probably proud to have killed that guy....Gordon?"  
Darius replied, "It's Garen Draven, and you know that. I wanted to talk with you about what happened."  
He responded, "Why does it matter, you killed him, you got gold and a one up on him, what else was to it?"  
Darius did not really want to explain what happened in detail. He kind of hoped Draven had been watching top but the difficulty of his lane plus Draven being self-centered usually meant things had to be put in front of his face.  
"Garen and I were fighting and when I pulled him in, instead of attacking me, he pulled us closer and kissed me...for a while."  
Draven dropped his axe. His look of surprise would have been funny except I was close to an emotional tantrum. He picked out another axe from his side and asked, "Did you kiss back?"  
Now Darius had the surprise on his face. He didn't know. How could he not know if he had kissed back? He felt like he was aware of everything about that moment, and yet, nothing on that detail.  
He decided to answer honestly. "I'm not sure. Honestly, I think I did because I liked it."  
"Do you like him though?". Draven was really pushing his buttons here.  
"I don't know anything Draven! I just wanted to ask what you think of the situation."  
Draven opened his mouth, then a black shield surrounded him, Morgana shouting, to run. Darius was there for 3 minutes straight and that had caused four people to try to gank. Gragas, Lux, Ezreal and Taric were all coming at them.  
"We'll have to talk about this after the match". Draven swept his axes in front of him and ran away, leaving Darius to be the kill bait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. Let me know what you guys think. If this gets a positive response, I will get more chapters out. Otherwise, it would be on a whim to continue producing more chapters/stories. I plan for this story to incorporate Garen and Darius's struggles with an actual match, including other character interactions. Hopefully, it will turn out well. Thank you for reading what you have so far!


	3. Chapter 3

Garen respawned, with sagged shoulders that could no longer hold the world. He wanted to figure out Darius's reactions, but he needed to come to terms with his own too.   
Garen ran down mid lane, deciding that he didn't want to risk getting hurt by Darius emotionally this time by seeing him. He knew Lux would make everything better. She always did.  
Lux was against Katarina, who was wearing a really, really sexy kitty costume. Garen was mesmerized by Kat's swift motions before realizing Lux kind of needed his help. He swooped in and silenced Kat just as she came in to ult them. Lux rooted her down while Garen spun till she died. Lux only got away with barely 200 hp and that was only because of her shield.   
Lux gave a sigh of relief. She smiled and said, "Wow Garen, I didn't expect you to come help but thanks!". She looked more closely at him and saw he had a pensive expression. "Is something wrong?"  
Garen never held anything back from Lux until this point but he felt kind of guilty that he was about to describe something he initiated and brought out of control. That behavior wasn't like him. He was expected to be courteous, determined and honorable. And yet Darius brought out anything but those things.  
He decided to be blunt, knowing Lux would just ask for details she wanted to know. "I kissed Darius at top lane and I want to do it again because I liked it". He held his breath waiting for a response.  
Lux stared at the minions, farming them still, but not really paying attention. I could feel her brain working through the details, trying to make the connections, and failing. She shook her head and carefully she admitted, "I just don't see it. Anytime I have seen you two so much as see each other, there is rage in your eyes. You're just confused. Have you been feeling alone lately? You're projecting your feelings onto Darius and just using lust as an explanation." She paused, then turned towards the bottom lane. "I'm going bot to gank. You should go head back to top but think about what I said. I just don't believe what you're saying is true, nor would I trust Darius to do anything other than try to kill you". And with that, her recall finished and Garen was left alone, somehow more in mental turmoil then before.   
I didn't expect that from Lux, Garen thought. I trust her so much, but I can't let go of what happened between Darius and I. How did I feel? Why didn't I tell Lux how I felt too? She probably doesn't know about how I admire Darius's skill...but are those actual feelings? Maybe she's got a point.  
Garen wanted to tell Lux more stuff, so he began to head bot lane, only to hear that Darius had died there. Strangely, that didn't affect him any differently than any other death call. Perhaps this was all just a fluke of the moment. With that thought, Garen ran, with shoulders a bit more sturdy than before, back to top to catch up.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything seemed to be going well for their team, they were 2 to 1 and they had a gold advantage. Perhaps Garen could bring a victory after all with things feeling back to normal. Returning from the shop, he was admiring his sword's upgrade when he saw Darius and all of his emotions came rushing back. Darius seemed more handsome now, gleaming armor, a manly axe and the scars were doing it for him. It was as if all the parts of Darius he hadn't noticed before came out shining brilliantly for Garen's eyes and heart to soak in. He forgot everything Lux said and ran up to Darius, who was carefully farming minions one by one.  
"Hey!", Garen smiled as he got closer. Darius glanced up and just grimaced, "Hey yourself".  
Garen's smiled faded, but he wasn't leaving. He saw a light, and was determined to see it again. "I was wondering if you were free after the match and wanted to hang out?", he questioned shyly.

Darius really looked up at Garen this time, with shock and confusion. I couldn't believe this guy, trying to still talk to me after what he did. Who does he think he is asking me out? There were two types of people to Darius: people he had sex with and people he didn't want to have sex with, and Garen was in that rare zone, where he had kind of wanted him only for physical pleasure, but maybe now he wanted more. Darius wanted to make a snarky comment but he couldn't do that to Garen. The air felt too tense. He was about to give some excuse but as he looked into Garen's eyes, he saw hope, a sparkling dream, and as if in a trance, he couldn't stop himself from saying, "Yes". He bit his lip after, managing to stop the rest of the words but the damage was done.  
Garen's face transformed into the first happy expression I'd ever seen him have. I'd seen glee from killing someone or pity when someone didn't do well. It really brings out his eyes and smile, Darius noticed. There really seems to be something here.  
Darius actually smiled back and playfully swung his axe at Garen, trying to begin the never ending fight between them again. But this time, there would be more behind it, and a hand to hold onto at the end of the match as they exited the arena. Maybe Garen could really be the one to give myself to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this whoever you are and I hope you enjoyed the story. I did plan on it being longer and more fulfilling but I felt that I needed to end it simply because there are so many other stories I can do, including doing the post-match date possibly?!?  
> Idk, as always I love the community here and I wish everyone the best in their lives.


End file.
